Beyond Foolish Pride
by Satokasu Suki
Summary: Knuckles and Rouge treasure hunt together in new places. Will they become closer along the way? And what is Rouge up to? [COMPLETE]
1. Prologue

****

NOTE(S): Big thanks to Seproth and hi for pointing out some "plot holes" that were in the story. And a huge thanks to **everyone **who has been **reviewing**! 

Another note is if anyone has been looking for the Disclaimer, it can be found on Chapter One! 

[Also, please ignore my "Note" in Chapter Five].

So, here is the much-needed Prologue. ^_^ This story takes place AFTER Sonic Adventure 2 (:Battle). 

****

Prologue

The ARK slowly landed on the Earth, and until it came to a complete stop, everyone boarded off.

Sonic stretched as he hopped out and looked around. "Good ol' Earth," he grinned. "It feels great to be back!"

"It sure does," Tails smiled as he stepped out and looked around Station Square.

Amy jumped out of the ARK and walked beside Sonic. "We should celebrate!" she said cheerfully.

"Yeah…" Sonic said, noticing something coming toward them, "but not right now – Reporters! Run!" 

Amy grabbed Sonic's hand as they whizzed down the streets of Station Square, being chased by a mob of reporters. Tails followed in the air.

Eggman climbed out of the ARK carefully, followed by Knuckles and Rouge.

A group of reporters surrounded them all the minute they stepped out.

"So what's the deal, Rouge. Are you a hero, or a villain?"

"Is it true that Shadow the Hedgehog died?"

"Knuckles, why did you really save Rouge at Meteor Herd?"

"How did you feel when Tails beat you on the ARK, Eggman?"

"Rouge – what made you fall for Knuckles, when you could've had someone like Shadow or Sonic?"

"Where's Sonic and Amy?"

"Is it true Eggman, that you will infact be joining Weight Watchers? And why do your plans always seem to fail?"

Eggman scoffed. "_Weight Watchers_? Not in a million years!" he fumed. "My plans only fail because of that persistent hedgehog. I hate that hedgehog!"

"Uh…" Rouge was overwhelmed by the questions. She just blinked.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I definitely don't save the world for _this_," he growled, hinting at the reporters as he started to glide off.

"Wait!" Rouge called after him. "Where are you going? You can't leave me here!" she called angrily as she began to glide after him.

The reporters called after them. "Wait! Come back! You can't leave yet!"

Rouge and Knuckles easily escaped the reporters.

"Guys! Wait up!" Eggman called from the ground helplessly as reporters surrounded him and started bombarding him with questions.

Rouge winked at him and gave him a Captain's salute. "See ya later!"

Eggman groaned in response. "Thanks for nothing, bat girl!" he yelled. "After all I've done for you," he muttered under his breath.

"So…where are you going?" Rouge repeated, turning back to Knuckles.

"I'm going to my home on Angel Island, to watch over the Master Emerald," Knuckles said simply.

"Oh…" Rouge said simply before winking at Knuckles. "Well, it was fun being your rival – you were worthy competition," she smirked.

Knuckles chuckled. "You too, _bat girl_."

Rouge just smiled and then glided away.

***

Later that evening…

Knuckles sighed as he took one last gaze at the Master Emerald. "It feels so great to be home," he sighed again before adding, "and it feels great to know I can just relax…" he nodded off.

***

Also that evening…

Rouge wandered the streets of Station Square alone. One or two lonely cars slowly drove past her now and then, and crickets sounded in every direction. Twinkling stars lit up the sky and she sighed as she looked up at them.

She sat down on a curb beside the ocean and yawned as she covered her mouth. She blinked a few times as she felt her eyelids drooping. Rouge crossed her right leg over top of her left leg and stared at the stars for a while.

**__**

BEEP BEEP!

Rouge jumped at the noise. '_Who could be calling at this hour…?' _she thought in slight frustration as she took out her cell phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Rouge," a familiar, rather raspy male voice answered.

Rouge squinted her eyes slightly in confusion. "_Doctor_?"

"Yes Rouge, it's me," Eggman replied calmly. "Listen, bat girl. I need you to help me with a new mission…"

"Actually Doctor I-"

"You'd get triple the pay for doing something rather easy."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "And what exactly do you mean by _something easy_? If it's looking for gems, again I – "

"Well…that is part of the package, but I think you'd find it easy. All you'd have to do is find Knuckles and-"

Suddenly a middle-weight, middle-sized black object crashed into Rouge. Rouge was forced into the ocean. 

She angrily got out of the water and ringed out the trim of her shirt and shook her head free of some of the water droplets. "How dare you! You-" she stopped in mid-sentence. She dropped her cell phone into the sand and stepped back a little in alarm.

She slowly approached the black creature. 

"S-Shadow…?" she whispered incredulously.

The black object got out from the dirt, shook around briefly to get free of the sand and held its head in slight pain. It had hit the curb directly.

It weakly smiled. "Hey bat girl."

"Shadow!" Rouge repeated happily. "Shadow! You're alive! Everyone thought you died!"

Shadow looked taken back. "Me? The Ultimate Life Form? I don't die _that_ easily," he grinned. "I used Chaos Control at the last minute, and I was transported here."

Rouge just smiled warmly.

"So uh…" Shadow pointed to her cell phone, "was I interrupting something?"

Rouge's eyes widened as she quickly remembered her conversation with Eggman. She panicked as she put her phone to her ear again, "Hello? Doctor? Hello?"

"Hello," Eggman responded. "What just happened there?"

Rouge smiled at Shadow as she continued. "I just found Shadow. He's alive!"

Eggman grinned wickedly. "Oh really? This makes things much easier…"

Rouge frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Come to my base at once – bring Shadow too," Eggman said before briefly cackling. "Our temporary truce is officially over," he added.

Rouge grinned, knowing what he meant. "Okay. We'll be over in about 10 minutes."

***

At Eggman's Base…

Rouge and Shadow approached Eggman, who was busy typing away on the computer. 

"Ahem," Shadow cleared his throat to get Eggman's attention.

Eggman spun around in his seat, to face them. He intertwined his fingers as he grinned wickedly.

"Welcome back," he greeted them and they smiled evilly as a response. 

"First of all Shadow, I'd like you to go chase after Sonic, and –"

"Actually Doctor, I'm not really considered Sonic's rival anymore…" Shadow started to object.

"I don't care. Our truce is over with them. As I was saying, you will chase after Sonic and-"

"No," Shadow shook his head. "We're friends, now."

Eggman cackled briefly. "Shadow, Shadow, Shadow!" he teased. "You just don't get it, do you?"

He took out a large gun-like mechanism. Shadow backed up at the sight of it.

"Don't make me force you the hard way," Eggman said firmly, aiming the gun-like mechanism at Shadow. 

Shadow frowned at him. His frown was full of hate. He did a homing attack aimed at Eggman, but narrowly missed.

Eggman frowned. "You asked for it," he said as the gun-like machine charged up. A blue aura filled the room.

****

BANG!

Rouge ran to Shadow's side. "Doctor! What have you done to him?" Rouge asked.

"All I did was knock some sense into him using my newest invention. It erases all feelings of love and friendship," Eggman said proudly. '_Beat that, fox boy_!' he thought happily.

"Will I have to knock some sense into you too, bat girl?" he threatened.

Rouge decided she didn't want to end up like Shadow. "How may I serve you Doctor," she asked with a grin. 

"I can get used to this," Eggman chortled.

"First of all, Rouge, I want you to go to Angel Island and break Knuckles' precious Master Emerald. Then I want you to wake him up from sleeping and tell him its broken. Then you'll most likely have his trust, so you can go look for the shards with him."

"Okay Doctor," Rouge nodded, "I'll be getting triple the pay thought, right?" Eggman nodded, and she glided off.

***

Rouge, dressed all in black, slowly approached the emerald. "Sorry Knuckles…but someone had to…" she muttered to herself before kicking the bottom of the Emerald. It lost its balance and shattered into what seemed like millions of pieces.

Knuckles awoke with a start. "Huh? What?" he turned back to look at the Master Emerald. He groaned. "Why does this _always_ seem to happen!?"

He went to inspect the pieces but nothing was left. He guessed the pieces had shattered into different parts of the world.

Rouge quickly dressed out of her black camouflage and into her normal clothing. She jumped out from behind a tree. "I saw everything! Eggman came and was about to snatch the emerald but I accidentally kicked it in mid air while I was trying to get it back!"

"Uhh…" Knuckles was at a loss for words. "What were you doing here in the first place?" he asked finally.

Rouge blushed. "Uh…just gliding by…heh-heh," she lied.

"Uh _huh…_" Knuckles squinted at her suspiciously. 

Rouge looked away. "So we better get looking for those pieces!"

"We?" Knuckles pointed at Rouge and then at himself. "No, no, no! It's _my_ emerald. _I'll_ go look for the pieces."

"Hey! What am I supposed to do?" Rouge complained.

Knuckles though. "Well if you really want to help me look, you can…" he paused. "Why don't we compete against each other, to make things interesting?" Knuckles grinned.

Rouge shrugged with a smirk. "Okay, but the pieces I find – I keep."

Knuckles smirked. "You're assuming you'll actually find some?"

Rouge put her hands on her hips. "Of course I'll find some!"

~

Eh, so it's not a perfect Prologue, but it's something for now. Things are slowly comin' together…


	2. Chapter 1: The New Adventure Begins

Disclaimer: I do NOT own SEGA or related characters/ items.

Chapter One: The New Adventure Awaits

Rouge's eyes lit up at the sight of the emerald piece, about three metres in front of her. She lowered her wings, which caused her to safely land on the ground. "After this I'll only have one more left," she whispered excitedly to herself before reaching for the emerald piece. She concentrated on where the emerald was, and her fingers stretched to grasp it. She then gasped; noticing the emerald was no longer there. "What...where did it go?" she panicked in a whisper.

"You have to be quicker than that, bat girl," a deep voice said. Rouge looked up to see who the voice belonged to. It was none other than Knuckles the Echidna.

"Knuckles," Rouge said through clenched teeth, her eyes narrow, "that piece was mine, and we both know it!"

Knuckles grinned. "Really? Because it looks like it's mine. I got here first, bat girl."

Rouge scowled at him before getting up off the ground and dusting herself off. "The next piece is mine," she spat angrily at him before flying off.

"Oh?" Knuckles teased. "What makes you think it's over there?" 

With that, Knuckles glided downward before coming across a small ledge. "Beep.......beep...." his emerald detector wasn't exactly going crazy. He continued North, on the ledge. "Beep...beep," the beeps increased, indicating he was getting closer to the emerald. He inched forward. "Beep, beep, beep," the beeps were starting to react more, and his light was flashing dark yellow/red. 

Rouge, from somewhere in the air, caught sight of the flashing light on his detector and flew down to where he was, a little bit ahead of him. "Beep! Beep! Beep!" her emerald detector reacted, and it flashed red.

"What?" Knuckles frowned at her, just realizing she would get the last piece.

Rouge grinned, showing her teeth, before diving into the dirty ledge and then popping out, with the second emerald piece. She was covered in dirt so she dusted herself off before grinning at him again, with her eyes half open. She flew a little higher into the air, so she was floating above him. She twirled around happily before throwing the emerald in the air and then catching it.

"Rouge," Knuckles said angrily, "that piece was mine! Give it back!"

"Pfft, you think I'll just hand it over to you?" Rouge said before chuckling a little. "...And you call yourself a hunter," she grinned, showing her teeth, "it's every hunter for themselves."

She placed the emerald piece somewhere safely behind her before flying away. Knuckles glared at her.

"That last piece is mine, bat girl!" Knuckles said before flying ahead of her. Rouge glared at him before collecting some rings on a nearby ledge.

"Black Wave!" she commanded with a twirl. A black circle surrounded Knuckles in the air, causing him to crash down on the ground. He winced. He had fallen at least four stories. He clutched his shoulder in pain before flying upwards. 

He landed on a ledge safely. "Get down," he said before punching the ground. Rouge felt the punch, and fell to a ledge near him.

"You want to play rough? I'll show you rough," Rouge said with an evil smirk before flying to where he was and grinning at him.

Knuckles didn't like her grin at all. She was going to do something, but he couldn't figure out what.

"Charm Ray," she said with a grin, and Knuckles opened his mouth to say something, but time froze. 

Rouge giggled happily to herself before waving at Knuckles' frozen form happily, and then flying up to where to emerald probably was. 

Time unfroze, and Knuckles clenched his teeth angrily. He glided up to where Rouge was, and grinned evilly.

Rouge smiled. "Did you like my Charm Ray?" she teased. 

Knuckles kept his grin on. "Yeah, but will you like this? Power Flash!" 

Time froze, and Rouge was frowning angrily in her frozen pose. Knuckles stuck out his tongue at her before flying toward the emerald.

"Just a little more..." he inched toward it, before seeing Rouge come into view. Time had unfroze.

"Don't make this hard for me, Knuckles. You don't know who you're messing with," Rouge warned, inches in front of the emerald. Knuckles was in front of the emerald on the other side of her.

Knuckles frowned. "You don't know who you're messing with, either. Thunder Arrow!" 

A pain struck Rouge, causing her to collapse onto the ledge. She weakly reached for the emerald.

"Ah, ah, ah, bat girl," Knuckles waved his index finger at her before picking up the emerald and examining it. 

"Hey..." a frown formed. "This isn't a real emerald! I have a connection with the emeralds...I'm feeling no power from this. It's a fake!" he then glared down at Rouge.

She grinned evilly before getting up off the ground, and revealing the last emerald from behind her.

"But...how did you..." Knuckles was at a loss for words, and Rouge simply smiled before closing her eyes.

"I took advantage of when I made time stop. I'm not as stupid as you think," Rouge said haughtily.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Knuckles angrily charged at her, and grabbed the emerald.

Rouge frowned. "This emerald's mine!" she tugged the emerald toward her, and Knuckles tugged it toward him.

Rouge frowned at him, before commanding, "Hip drop!"

Knuckles strained, and still weakly held onto the emerald. Rouge however yanked the emerald toward herself, and got it out of his grasp.

She smiled. "Ha! I guess I'm just better than you are," she said haughtily before tucking the emerald shard away safely.

Knuckles glared at her before unexpectedly jumping from where he was, onto her. This caused them both to tumble down, a huge distance, before crashing into the ground.

They both landed harshly, with Knuckles on top of Rouge. Rouge pushed him to the side, so she rolled on top of him. She glared down at him.

"What was that for?" she demanded angrily, flashing her sharp teeth.

Knuckles frowned before kicking her off of her, so she went flying. Luckily she used her wings, and ended up landing safe.

"I'll give you a fight if that's what you're looking for," Rouge narrowed her eyes at him.

Knuckles looked away. "Fighting won't solve anything," he said angrily.

Rouge's expression stayed the same, as she approached him. 

Knuckles turned to face her, his expression was serious. "I'm afraid I won't have time to play these little games with you anymore - I'm going on a new adventure," he said before walking off.

Rouge's expression softened to a look of jealously and confusion. "What? Why do _you_ get to go on a new adventure?" she whined. "I should be going too! I mean, we both know who the better hunter is here," she said haughtily.

Knuckles turned to her. "If you're implying that you're the better hunter, you're not."

Rouge scoffed. "Why do you get to have all the fun? They treat you like your sooo experienced, and like I'm a pathetic rookie! Well let me tell you, I'm far from being a rookie!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I _am_ experienced!" he retorted. "And...they just picked me, okay? It's nothing personal," he said, trying to get past her, but she still blocked him.

"Well that's not fair," she turned away angrily. She looked back at him, with her body slightly turned to side. "That's it. I'm going too," she placed her hand on her hip.

"What?" Knuckles gaped. "But..."

"End of story," Rouge said before closing her eyes and walking away.

"No!" Knuckles got in front of her and blocked her. "You can't come! They picked me, and it would be too dangerous for someone like you!"

"Too dangerous? Are you saying I get scared easily?" Rouge was insulted. 

"Rouge," Knuckles grabbed her shoulders so she couldn't escape. "Nobody wants to see you get hurt."

Rouge smiled a little. "Aww, I never knew you cared..." she teased, batting her eyelashes.

Knuckles frowned angrily. "Think whatever you want, bat girl, but you can't come."

Rouge smiled calmly. "We'll see about that."

He released his grip on her, and she walked away. Knuckles stared after her, and shook his head before gliding away.

Please review!

- Satokasu Suki


	3. Chapter 2: May the Best Hunter Win

**Chapter Two: May the Best Hunter Win**

Knuckles glided toward a tall mountain, before checking his map in mid air. "Hmm...looks like this is my first destination," he mumbled to himself. He landed gently on the tip of the mountain, before looking down to notice an Omochao. 

Knuckles frowned. "Oh great..." he said sarcastically. 

"Hi! I'm Omochao, and I'm here to help you!" the little wind-up toy announced cheerfully before spinning around in Knuckles' face. 

Knuckles swatted it away. "I don't need any help." 

"Everyone needs help, silly!" the Omochao retorted cheerfully. "To get further into the mountain, use dig!" 

Knuckles frowned. "Well...it can't hurt to try." 

He dived into the ground and then popped out. "Thank Omochao, you've been great," he waved, hoping it would leave him alone. He dug into the ground again to find a long pipe. He jumped in, and traveled down the long, winding pipe. 

Once he emerged from the pipe, he found a huge rocky land. Boulders crashed down unexpectedly now and then, from higher ledges. 

Knuckles gulped before flexing his muscles and then gliding forward. 

"This shouldn't be too difficult…nothing a pro treasure hunter can't handle," he said to himself. 

A boulder narrowly missed crashing into him, and Knuckles sweat dropped. "That was too close." 

"Ahhh! Help me!" a nearby voice shrieked. 

Knuckles questioningly looked in the direction of where the voice came from. "Huh?" he glided in that direction. 

A clearing came into view, as did a familiar figure – wrapped in a huge plant that resembled a Venus flytrap. 

"Rouge?" Knuckles gaped. "I told you it was too dangerous to come here!" he yelled, gliding toward her. 

Rouge frowned. "I know…I guess I can't call myself a treasure hunter anymore," she hung her head sadly. 

The huge plant tightened its grip on her, and she winced in pain. 

Knuckles studied the plant's moves carefully. 

The plant jolted forward at Knuckles, and Knuckles thrashed his right arm forward, and punched it in a weak area. The area swelled, and Knuckles rammed his hard knuckles into the weak spot. 

The plant yelped in pain, and shrivelled. Rouge jumped out of its weak arms. 

"Thanks," she bowed in appreciation. 

"So," Knuckles frowned at her. "How did you know I'd be here?" 

Rouge smirked. "I have my connections." 

Before Knuckles could respond, a thrashing sound came from behind Knuckles and Rouge, and they both attentively jumped in surprise. 

"It's _alive_?" Rouge gasped. 

"And it's brought company…" Knuckles said through clenched teeth, as he stared in horror at the multiplying death plants. 

Knuckles swept Rouge off her feet and into his arms, as he glided away. He swerved in and out and side to side to avoid them. Rouge braced herself as a tumbling boulder narrowly missed them. She looked up at Knuckles, with shining eyes that bubbled with admiration. 

He was so brave and so committed to protecting the Master Emerald. Although he had a rough exterior, Rouge somehow knew he was a good person at heart. 

Knuckles felt her gaze on him, and he blushed a little and looked down at her. 

Rouge noticeably looked away quickly. 

Knuckles decided to forget about it. 

Rouge suddenly realized her position. "Hey…who do you think you're rescuing?" she snapped at him suddenly. 

Knuckles rolled his eyes before tossing her out of his arms. Rouge swiftly recovered, and started to glide by his side. 

"I didn't necessarily mean to DROP me," she sneered. 

Knuckles scoffed. "Whatever." 

"So what are you supposed to be doing in this crazy world?" Rouge questioned, changing the subject. 

"Treasure hunting," Knuckles said simply before adding, "but it's much more difficult here. It's only for us professionals." 

"'Us professionals'?" she echoed. "As in you and I, or you and others?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

"'Us professionals' as in me and others," Knuckles said seriously, making an effort to turn an glare at her coldly before pressing forward. 

Rouge caught up to where Knuckles was. "You just don't get it do you? I mean, have you never seen me in action before? I'm just as good as you are…you just don't want to admit it!" Rouge finished, jabbing her index finger into Knuckles' chest before smirking haughtily and flying forward. 

Knuckles frowned. "I have years of experience to back me up, bat girl. What can you say to that?" 

"I'm a fast learner! I have retrieved just as many emerald pieces as you have, and if you noticed – I beat you back there _easily_! And…I bet that I can find the first emerald piece here before you!" Rouge challenged. 

Knuckles frowned. "Is there anything in the world that is more important to you than emeralds?" 

Rouge thought about it before smirking her usual smirk. "No." She knew this answer would annoy Knuckles, although it wasn't necessarily true. 

Knuckles rolled his eyes. 

"So are you going to hands-down let me get the first piece, or do you want to make this interesting?" 

"Let's make this worth while," Knuckles smirked with his eyebrows still furrowed. 

Rouge smiled knowingly before landing alongside Knuckles. "Whoever looses has to yell to the world that whoever wins is the best treasure hunter." 

"And whoever wins gets to gloat about it all they want," Knuckles smiled determinedly. 

Rouge extended her hand, and then Knuckles followed. They shook on it before putting their arms back to their rightful sides. 

"Good luck, treasure hunter – 'cause you're going to need it," Rouge smiled haughtily. 

"Don't let your ego way you down too much, bat girl," Knuckles smirked. "You'll need all the energy and agility you can muster up to beat me." 

They both smiled at each other with determination. "May the best hunter win," they said in unison before dashing off in opposite directions. 

- Satokasu Suki 


	4. Chapter 3: The True Treasure Hunter is ?

****

Chapter 3: And the true Treasure Hunter is…?

"_Don't worry so much…this is just like any other hunt. Well, except for the fact that your dignity and pride is riding on you…and you have a 50% chance of saying Knuckles is a better hunter…oh, who are you kidding, Rouge_?" Rouge thought to herself as she landed on a ledge near some powerful wind.

"I have to find this emerald, if it's the last thing I do!" she said before jumping off the platform. She was then forced upward from the powerful wind.

"Whoa!" her eyes widened as she looked down at the wind. "Talk about powerful!" she sweat dropped, before gliding away from it, and pulling herself up onto another ledge. 

Meanwhile, Knuckles was on the other side of the cave.

"I have to win this. There's no way I'm going to say she's the better hunter!" Knuckles thought to himself before flexing his muscles. "I have to get that piece before bat girl finds it!" he announced before taking off. 

Rouge searched frantically for the emerald piece, gliding into some rocks and crushing them in mid-air. "Where could that emerald piece be?" she said determinedly, scanning the area quickly. She then noticed a small green thing sparkling in the far distance. A wicked smile formed on her lips as she glided toward it. "Bingo."

Knuckles also looked around for it, frantically before noticing the same glimmering object in the distance. "Aha!" he said as he glided toward it.

Rouge reached the emerald, and her eyes shone wickedly as she toothily smiled. A red-shoed foot suddenly blocked her view of the emerald.

"What the-?" Rouge looked up to see who the foot belonged to.

"_Knuckles_," she said angrily through clenched teeth. "Talk about Déjà vu," she rolled her eyes.

Knuckles smiled down at her, and then she stood up.

"I was here first!" she said angrily, shoving her face into his face.

"So?" Knuckles shoved his face into her face.

"Grrr…it's mine!" they both yelled at each other in unison.

Suddenly…

"Hi, I'm Omochao! I'm here to help," the little wind-up robot smiled as it whizzed past their heads.

Rouge tore her head away from Knuckles, but Knuckles kept a steady glare on her. "Well make yourself useful, and tell me how I can get this emerald piece without this knucklehead interfering!" Rouge spat at the Omochao.

Knuckles grinned before picking up the emerald shard from behind him, and smiling as he gave her a thumb up. "Ha ha! Looks like you're just not quick enough," he said, tucking away the emerald piece.

"Ah!" Rouge gaped at him in disbelief before picking up the Omochao and tossing it toward the overpowering wind. "Thanks for nothing!" she called at it angrily as it slowly disappeared.

Rouge glared at Knuckles. "That stupid thing distracted me…this isn't fair!" she whined.

Knuckles raised his hand. "Ah, ah, ah!" he waved his index finger at her.

Rouge scoffed, and simply looked at him angrily with her eyes slightly narrowed.

"_True_ treasure hunters don't ge_t_ distracted," Knuckles said. "So…who's the better hunter?"

Rouge glared at him. "I can't believe this," she muttered before sighing, "You," she said quietly.

"What was that?" Knuckles teased. "I don't think _everyone_ could hear you, there."

"You," Rouge said through clenched teeth.

"Hmm?"

"YOU!" Rouge bellowed. "You're the better hunter!_ HAPPY_?!" she exclaimed, before panting. 

"Ah. That's more like it," Knuckles said, dusting his hands off in pride.

"You know, it takes an experienced hunter to pull off something like that back there," Knuckles gloated proudly.

"Yeah, yeah," Rouge snapped.

"These years of experience really do pay off," Knuckles added.

"Uh-huh," Rouge said irritably. 

"It's only masters like me who can be as swift and quick –"

"I get it!" Rouge shouted in irritability. She threw her hands over her ears. "Enough of this torture!"

Knuckles smirked. "Is that _jealousy_ I hear?"

Rouge took her hands off her ears. "_Ooo_!" she said angrily, "After I'm through with you, you won't be _able_ to hear anymore!" Rouge raised her fist at him.

Knuckles frowned. "Fighting with you would just be a waste of my time."

Rouge flashed her fangs. "Are you sure you don't want to think twice about that?"

"I'm positive I don't have to think twice about that," Knuckles said, eyes narrowing. 

Rouge couldn't stand it anymore, as she dove toward Knuckles and pushed him over the side of the cliff. They both somersaulted down at an incredible speed.

Once they landed, Rouge rolled on top of him, and slammed him into the ground. "Gotcha," she yelled in triumph. 

Knuckles smirked before pushing her and him down another cliff.

Rouge landed on top of Knuckles and slammed him into the ground again. "Gotcha _again_," she smirked.

"…So your not as easy as I thought. So what? I just beat you back there, if you forgot already!" Knuckles frowned, getting up from under her and dusting himself off.

"And I beat you earlier!" Rouge retorted, standing up.

They glared at each other for a few minutes.

"Fine. You've proved yourself to be a good hunter. Not as good as me…but you're not too bad," Knuckles said.

Rouge crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't need _you_ to tell me that," she scowled.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at her comment, before looking incredulously at the strong wind in the middle of the strange boulder world.

The wind started picking up small pieces of everything in its path, and it turned a dark grey colour.

"Hey…that wind wasn't always like that, was it?" Knuckles asked Rouge, keeping his eyes on the wind and not bothering to look at her.

Rouge squinted a little at it. "No…" she said slowly, as it started to turn black. "Definitely not."

Knuckles eyes widened as it slowly started to make its way toward them both. "Is it just me…or is it coming toward us?"

Rouge's eyes also widened. "It's coming toward us!" she yelled.

"All we can do is-" Knuckles started to say, his eyes narrowed in determination.

"-Run!" Rouge finished, sprinting away quickly from the tornado-like wind and grabbing Knuckles' wrist.

Knuckles reluctantly followed *not that he really had a choice, lol*.

"Let's take shelter under that cave over there!" Rouge yelled over the loud whirring of the threatening tornado as it gained on them.

Knuckles just nodded.

They both reached the cave safely, both panting unsteadily.

Rouge put her hand on her chest, and closed her eyes as she panted. 

Knuckles leaned back on the wall with his eyes closed as he panted.

"That was –pant- some chase –pant- huh?" Rouge said unsteadily.

Knuckles just gave her a weak smile, before sliding down the wall and landing on the floor of the cave, next to her. His panting continued.

- Satokasu Suki


	5. Chapter 4: Stranded

****

Chapter Four: Stranded

Rouge and Knuckles sat for minutes in complete silence; unsteady breathing and panting occasionally broke the silence now and then.

Suddenly, **_BAM!_**

"What the-?" Knuckles frowned and immediately rose to his feet, glaring at the entrance of the cave suspiciously.

The entrance was all of sudden blocked by a huge boulder.

Knuckles and Rouge sweat dropped before nervously glancing at each other and then back at the boulder.

"So…it looks like we're trapped," Knuckles said after a long pause.

"Unfortunately," Rouge scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I mean, of all people to be trapped with – I'm trapped with _you?" _she closed her eyes angrily as she continued, "What is this, some sort of _punishment_? What have I ever done?" she ended dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air.

Knuckles glared at her. "You think I'm thrilled about it?" he sneered.

Rouge smirked. "Well I should think so. People would die to get stuck somewhere with me," she closed her eyes half way and kept her smirk again.

"Well I can just about die thinking about it," Knuckles sniped, "-and that was by no means a compliment," he added angrily. 

Rouge scoffed again. "Whatever knucklehead. I know you like me deep down."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "That is probably one of the funniest things I have ever heard," he commented dryly. "Dream on, bat girl," he added while closing his eyes and putting his hands on his hips. He took a seat next to her.

"Oh come on, you can be honest with me. I won't tell anyone," Rouge closed her eyes halfway and shoved herself closer to him.

Knuckles squinted at her anime style before sneering. "I don't have the slightest bit of feelings for you, Rouge," he addressed her properly before looking smug, "but I guess _you_ like mesince you're so interested in _my_ feelings for you."

Rouge closed her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest and coughing a laugh. "Yeah right!"

They sat in silence for a minute, thinking about how much they _didn't_ like each other.

"Well we can't just sit here," Knuckles finally said, glancing at Rouge.

"Well, no…but how do you suppose we escape?" Rouge said, rising to her feet and putting her hands on her hips. Knuckles rose to his feet too.

Rouge watched Knuckles carefully as he took a deep breath and then dove into the ground. Ground particles and sand sprayed everywhere, and Rouge shielded her face with her arm. When Knuckles got back up from the ground, he was grinning.

"What are _you_ so happy about?" Rouge snapped, putting her hand back to her side and moving toward the hole Knuckles dug. 

"I think I just found our way outta here," Knuckles grinned.

Rouge got in front of him and started pulling at his head.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Knuckles snapped, glaring at her.

She smirked. "Move aside, knucklehead!"

"No way, bat girl. You can follow _my_ lead. I found the way out, so I should leave first," Knuckles argued.

Rouge shifted her weight to her right leg and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Haven't you ever heard of '_Ladies first'_?" she sneered.

"Yeah, but that only applies to _ladies_," Knuckles fought back.

"Out of all the insults – " Rouge mumbled angrily before adding loudly over his groans and mumbles, "when this is over I'll get you good!"

Knuckles growled angrily before digging deep into the ground.

"Ah!" Rouge stepped back a bit and shielded herself again. "Now you've made me mad," she said angrily before digging into the ground after him.

Knuckles emerged from the ground after digging a tunnel. He looked at his new surroundings. "This must be…" he took out his map and scanned it before noticing his next destination, "_Devil's Land_."

Rouge suddenly popped out of the ground beside him and glared at him. "You are _the _biggest–" she started angrily, but was abruptly stopped when Knuckles put his hand over her mouth.

"Get your hands off of me!" her words seeped though clenched teeth. She threw his hand off of her mouth. 

Knuckles glared at her. "You know, your voice _does_ get tiring," he said coldly.

Rouge opened her mouth but no sound came out; obviously insulted. She balled up her fist and sent it torpedoing toward Knuckles' jaw. He caught it calmly, seconds before it would have hit him.

Frustrated, she returned her hand back to her waist and pushed herself up from the ground so she was standing. Knuckles also rose to his feet.

"There's no time for games," he said firmly before walking slightly in front of her.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Master Emerald pieces to find," he said with his eyes closed before gliding toward a tall dark red mountain and then climbing up it, curiously.

__

'Stupid echidna. He's so persistent. Ugh…who needs him?' Rouge thought angrily_. 'I'll show him how much he needs me!_' she thought determinedly before leaving.

Knuckles scaled up the wall with ease before reaching the top of the mountain. He looked down from the top and didn't see Rouge. "Ha! Looks like I'm faster than you, bat girl!" he called down.

No response came.

Knuckles' haughty expression turned a little soft. "Uh…Rouge?"

His lonely words echoed.

Knuckles frowned. "Whatever…I don't need her," he said calmly, "I don't need anybody," he added, trying to convince himself.

Meanwhile, at Knuckles' next destination…

"Ha!" Rouge laughed to herself; "it's a good thing I saw Knuckles' map. I'll just steal these emeralds, and then he'll _have_ to give up. I'm so good," she smiled evilly to herself, before tucking away two emerald shards. "Just one more to go!" 

Meanwhile…

Knuckles tucked away his three emerald shards. "Piece of cake," he smiled as he dusted his hands off.

He took out his map, "My next destination is: Cemetery Cove," he read, before cringing. "Sounds creepy…" he paused briefly, "…but I'm not afraid. After all, I have no weak spots."

Meanwhile,

Rouge's eyes lit up at her three beautiful emerald shards. "Wow," she gasped as they shone and twinkled. "I love my job," she smiled a little wickedly before she heard someone landing nearby.

"Ah! He's here," she quickly tucked away the emerald shards and hid behind a large rock. "It's showtime," she smiled before hiding.

"Okay detector," Knuckles smiled down at his detector before pecking it quickly, "work your magic!"

He flew around the huge environment three or four times. The detector didn't respond at all. "What the -?" Knuckles looked down at the detector and examined it. '_It looks fine…but why isn't it reacting? Without the detector working, it'll take me hours to find the pieces_!' Knuckles thought in frustration.

"So do you give up yet?" a voice came from a high perch above where Knuckles was.

"Huh?" he turned his head quickly to where the voice came from. 

Rouge came out from the shadows, using her wings to slowly float down to his level. She brought out the emerald shards when she was inches above his head, and juggled them around playfully. Her eyes were half-closed. "You'll have to work on that speed of yours, knucklehead."

Knuckles gaped. "Those are mine!" his shocked look turned into an angry expression.

Rouge smirked. "Oh really? Because it looks like they're mine. I got here first, knucklehead," she teased before putting the emerald shards away safely.

Knuckles took a swipe at her, and Rouge calmly dodged it. She examined her nails before blowing on them. "Too slow," she said in singsong, before flying above his head.

"All you can do is give up, Knuckles. That would be the only way I would give these pieces back to you – knowing that I challenged you and _you_ gave in to _me_…would just make my day," Rouge smiled evilly; which annoyed Knuckles.

"Never!" he shook his head. "I'll never give up, or give in! Especially to you!" 

"Okay," Rouge smiled before waving the emeralds in front of his face, "then I guess these are mine!" she said, closing her eyes half way.

Knuckles quickly knocked over her hands, and the shards went flying. 

Rouge gasped, before glancing at him. He glared at her before diving for the pieces. She flew down and quickly caught them all within millimetres of his reach. She tucked them away. "Ah, ah, ah!" she waved her index finger.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Knuckles asked in frustration.

"Because I love to annoy you," Rouge smiled evilly.

Knuckles scoffed. "Fine then – keep the pieces! See if I care!" he dashed off. 

Rouge's evil expression turned questionable. "What?" she said in surprise, before gliding slightly above him as he ran. "What do you mean? You need these pieces to go to the next stage!"

"Yeah," Knuckles glared at her, "I know."

Rouge was still confused. "So…how are you going to proceed without the pieces?"

"I won't," Knuckles said simply. "I'm quitting."

"_What_?" Rouge's eyes widened, and she gasped in shock. She suddenly began to panic a little. "Q-quit?" she choked out.

"You heard me," Knuckles said calmly.

"B-but that means…" it suddenly hit her. _Hard_. "But that means I won't have any more competition!"

Knuckles nodded. "Guess so."

"And it means I won't have a rival anymore!" she blinked a little, and her expression turned soft.

Knuckles nodded. "Yep." His plan was working nicely. He would never _actually_ quit.

She jumped in front of him. "You can't quit!" she said firmly, looking into his eyes.

"I can, and I will," Knuckles said coldly.

"No, you can't quit!" she repeated angrily. 

"And _why_ not?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow calmly.

"Because I…you…" Rouge fumbled with her words. "Because then my job will be worthless! Treasure hunting means nothing without competition! And my competition is you…" Rouge trailed off. "So…I…"

"…You?" Knuckles coaxed.

"I…guess…I…kind of…_need _you," Rouge forced out, avoiding eye contact. 

Knuckles couldn't help but smile a little. "Then I guess it's safe to say I won't quit."

"Really?" Rouge smiled. But not her usual haughty, determined, cocky smile. It was a happy, joyful smile that Knuckles had never seen before.

Knuckles smiled truthfully, too. "Really. But…I'm going to need those emerald pieces you took," he said.

Rouge smirked. "Okay, okay," she took them out and gave them to him. "But don't think I'm going soft or anything! This is a **one time** thing!" 

For a brief moment they smiled at each other. But not in determination, or competitiveness…it was a very friendly smile…almost…caring!

Also for a brief moment, a tingling sensation washed through them both. They were both strangers to the feeling. It felt like they were so happy they were going to burst.

'_What is this feeling?_' Rouge thought in confusion. '_It feels like I'm flying…without wings…or something. It's so…warm and…nice!_'

'_Wow…this feeling is so…weird. I wonder what it is…'_ Knuckles thought basically the same thing, in confusion. '_I hope I can get it again…_'

What they didn't know, was that they were both feeling **love** for one another.

Please don't hesitate to review! ^_^ I'm going to need 5 more reviews for the next chapter to be up, okay? 

~ Satokasu Suki


	6. Chapter 5: Shiver Mountain Madness

**Chapter Five: Shiver Mountain Madness**

Knuckles and Rouge stood in silence, not making eye contact. 

Suddenly Omochao appeared behind Rouge. "The warm feeling you are feeling is called love," Omochao said innocently with a smile. "Love is when someone cares deeply about a person…or in this case, echidna!" it chuckled a little. 

Rouge's eyes widened in surprise before turning to a frustrated expression. She blushed, and quickly hissed "_Shut up!_" through clenched teeth before throwing Omochao over the side of the cliff. 

Omochao hit a large rock. Stars appeared around its head. "Ow! Where am I?_ Who_ am I?" it stumbled around in confusion. 

Knuckles had been oblivious to the scene, but turned to Rouge when he heard Omochao grimacing. 

"Did you hear something?" he asked slowly and curiously. 

"No!" Rouge said quickly, almost as a reflex. 

Knuckles gave her a strange look. 

"I mean…uh…no…I don't think so…" she looked away in embarrassment. 

Knuckles scratched the back of his head before taking out his map. "Well whatever. I have to get to my next destination." 

Rouge walked up to him and looked over his shoulder. "Which is…?" 

He scanned the map before placing his index finger on top of a white mountain. The name 'Shiver Mountain' was next to the small mountain picture. "Shiver Mountain," Knuckles announced before putting his map away. 

"It will take us about 12 hours to get there by gliding," he informed before flexing his muscles. 

"Nothing a true treasure hunter can't handle," Rouge smirked before jumping off the cliff and gliding northward. 

"Hey bat girl!" Knuckles called to her. She looked back at him questioningly. 

"Shiver mountain is that way," he jabbed his thumb south. 

Rouge frowned before smiling. "I know…" she paused, thinking of something, "I was just practicing my gliding…heh…everything seems to be okay," she covered up, before gliding south. 

Knuckles rolled his eyes before joining her by her side. 

"I'm getting pretty hungry…" Knuckles mumbled. His stomach was getting the best of him. 

"Oh?" Rouge said simply, taking out some grapes from somewhere behind her. 

Knuckles' eyes widened. '_Grapes? Hmm…I wonder…_' he thought suspiciously. Was it just a coincidence that Rouge knew his favourite food? 

Rouge closed her eyes as she plopped a grape carelessly into her mouth, and savoured the taste. She was about to take another grape, when Knuckles stopped her. 

"Could uh…_I_ have one?" he asked. 

"Hmm…" Rouge pretended to think. "I guess so," she said lazily, taking off possibly the smallest grape and handing it to Knuckles. 

"_What!?_" he gaped at the small grape. 

Rouge smirked. "Take it or leave it." 

Knuckles just grumbled as he ate the small grape. 

Rouge opened her mouth to put in another grape, but stopped herself. She tore off a large branch of grapes and handed it to Knuckles. 

"Here," she said firmly, almost forced, looking away. 

"Huh?" Knuckles was confused. Truthfully, so was Rouge. She didn't understand what made her give Knuckles the grapes, either. 

Hungry, Knuckles accepted the grapes in silence and started to eat them. 

Several hours later… 

The warm temperatures noticeably were dropping severely. Rouge shivered as she fought the urge to slow down or stop gliding. Knuckles didn't seem to notice her obvious shivering, which annoyed Rouge. 

"Aren't you a little cold?" Rouge hissed through chattering teeth as she crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her arms tightly to keep warm. 

Knuckles shrugged, not bothering to look at her. "I don't mind a little cold." 

Rouge gritted her teeth and just glared at him as they continued to approach Shiver Mountain. 

An hour later… 

The temperature had dropped to a bone chilling –20° C. 

Rouge's shivering had increased. She was now quickly rubbing her hands up and down her arms as an attempt to get warm. Occasionally she breathed into her cupped hands before rubbing her arms over and over. 

It annoyed her to no end to see Knuckles not even flinch. 

"This isn't a _little_ cold anymore," she barked angrily, the coldness getting to her, "this is extremely cold. Aren't you just a tiny bit cold!?" 

Knuckles shrugged, again not bothering to look at her. "Not really." 

"What do you mean, not really? It's f-f-f-f-f," Rouge's teeth chattered, "_f-freezing_!" 

"Well I have a thick coat of fur to back me up. Maybe a better clothing choice could help you out," Knuckles growled back. 

"Hey!" Rouge's head bobbed back slightly, insulted. My clothing is fine! - " 

"- On a summers day! But not when it's –20° C!" Knuckles exclaimed in frustration. 

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I bother. You're so…" she stopped and puffed some warm breath into hands before continuing, "s-s-stubborn," she glared at him through half-open eyes. 

"You think I'm stubborn? You're the stubborn one," Knuckles growled. 

"No I'm not!" Rouge said stubbornly. 

"Yes you are!" Knuckles retorted. 

"No I'm not!" 

Knuckles narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Arguing is just a waste of time. It doesn't help anyone. Besides, by arguing with me you're just proving how stubborn you are." 

Rouge gave him a sour expression, and tried to think of a comeback, but nothing came. '_The cold weather must be really getting to me,_' Rouge thought to herself, since this rarely happened. 

They finally arrived about half an hour later. 

Rouge sighed and plopped down on the cool ice, exhausted. 

"That was ridiculous," she grumbled, now wearing a dark pink coat that Knuckles insisted she took out from her bag she was carrying. 

Knuckles landed carefully beside her before flexing his muscles. "To you, maybe, but I was fine," he said calmly. 

Rouge just closed her eyes and sighed again, not caring about anything, just relieved to have arrived. 

"So I better go find those emeralds," Knuckles announced. He looked back at Rouge. 

"Why don't you go set up in that cave over there," he pointed to a big dark cave not that far away. 

"Set up?" Rouge repeated. 

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, we're going to have to stay the night. Why don't you get a fire starting while you're in there?" 

Rouge desperately fought the urge to sarcastically say 'yes your majesty.' She just nodded. "Okay, I guess…" 

"Okay I'll be back in about half an hour. If I'm not back by then – come out and look for me," Knuckles looked a little distant. 

"Okay," Rouge nodded before noticing his distant look. "You okay?" she asked in concern. 

Her voice surprised them both. Rouge was expecting him to say something sarcastic along the lines of 'wow…you actually care about me!' so she got her insult ready. 

Knuckles sadly nodded. 

Rouge smirked, thinking he said 'wow…you actually care about me!' she said, "Stop dreaming -" 

She then noticed that he hadn't given her a sarcastic remark, so her expression softened. "Uh…you sure you're alright?" 

Knuckles nodded again. "Yeah, I just think this will be harder than I think." 

"Don't worry about it. You're a great treasure hunter – I'm sure you'll be fine," Rouge smiled slightly at him. 

Her comment surprised them both. Obviously it really surprised Knuckles because his eyes widened. 

'What has gotten into me? First I'm worried, then I compliment him? I can't compliment my rival! What was I thinking? I-' Rouge's thoughts were interrupted as Knuckles turned to her and smiled his non-cocky, truthful, giving smile. 

"Thanks," he said warmly. She could hear his smile in his words. 

His voice was just about enough to warm Rouge up. She soon forgot about the cold weather. The tingling sensation melted her body. "You're welcome," she heard herself say almost in a whisper. 

He dashed off down the hill and disappeared as a blizzard-type wind swept by. 

Rouge watched him almost lovingly, with a happy smile on her face, before turning away and walking toward the cave. 

Later that evening… 

Rouge rubbed her hands together by the fire and sighed. '_I wonder when Knuckles will be back. I think it's been about half an hour. Should I go look for him_?' she thought, a little concerned. 

Five minutes passed. 

Rouge had decided. '_That's it. I'm going to go make sure he's alright,_' she thought before throwing one last twig into the fire before dashing off down the hill in the direction he had been travelling. 

She walked around carefully in the snow, eyeing passing mountains and hills to see if he was on them. 

She continued walking, noticing that the snow was considerably getting deeper. It was now up to her waist. 

She struggled to move on, but her senses told her Knuckles was somewhere near by. 

She opened her mouth to call his name, but she ended up shrieking in surprise as she fell face first into the ground. 

She shook her head free of the snow and dusted her clothes off before groaning. "Stupid…! What did I trip on?" she turned back to look, and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand when she saw. 

Knuckles was frozen in the snow! 

"Knuckles!" Rouge's expression saddened quickly as she looked at him. "Knuckles…" she repeated before looking back up to where the cave was. 

She picked him up with great difficulty and slung him onto her back. She sighed. "All I can do is head back up and hope he'll be alright…" she decided as she juggled trudging through the snow, fighting the blizzard-like wind and carrying about 100 pounds on her back all at the same time. 

Rouge followed her previous footsteps back up to the cave, and when she returned she placed Knuckles carefully on the ground and slouched him up against the wall of the cave. 

She looked him over carefully with a sad expression before moving him closer to the fire and putting a log against his back to help prop him up. 

Soon, the fire was their only source of light. It lit up both characters features with a red-orange tinge. 

Rouge sighed before looking at Knuckles. '_He's going to need all the warmth he can get_,' she thought to herself. '_I'm gonna regret this,_' she thought reluctantly before slowly wrapping her arms around him and falling asleep with her head nestled up against his chest. 

~ 

NOTE: If you haven't realized, this whole story must be taking place sometime during the game (@_@) because they're both still hunters. Sorry if that wasn't clear. 

SPECIAL NOTE: Rouge rescuing Knuckles ---> taking care of him idea © to my sister, Bellossom_Luv! Thanks honey! I also realized that Mily used this idea in her story "Stranded with Sonic!" (it's really good…you should go read it!), so…sorry if it seems like I copied. ;_; 

Please guys – I need more ideas for my next chapter. Suggest things in your reviews, okay? 

Thanks, 

~ Satokasu Suki 


	7. Chapter 6: Mixed Thoughts

NOTE: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! ^_^ It's a great boost of confidence to keep continuing with this story - so thanks everyone! 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own SEGA or related characters/ items. 

**Chapter Six: Mixed Thoughts**

_"Whew! Whew! Whew!" Knuckles panted, his breathing slowly steadying as he glared at Rouge._

_"Whew! Whew! Whew!" Rouge also panted, glaring at Knuckles._

_"Stop fooling around and give me back my emeralds!" they both yelled simultaneously at each other, extending their hands violently as they yelled._

_Rouge stepped back slightly. "What are you babbling about?" she frowned. "You can yourself a hunter? Attacking a lady? Shame on you!"_

_Knuckles kept his strict frown on. "What kind of lady goes around stealing gems, anyway?"_

_Rouge frowned at his comment. "Those belong to me!" she started to walk toward him, before loosing her footing and slipping off the beam they were both on. "Aahh!"_

_Rouge closed her eyes, thinking that when she awoke she would be dead. But she felt something on her arm. She slowly opened her eyes and looked upward. "What in the world?" she said quietly as Knuckles pulled her back up onto the beam._

_They both stared at each other for a few seconds. Rouge was having trouble trying to figure out Knuckles. He argued with her, he probably hated her…so why did he save her?_

_Rouge's eyes widened as she realized that she was alive and holding Knuckles' hand as she stared into his eyes. Not wanting to take the moment further, she tore away, finding her voice again._

_"Keep your hands to yourself, don't touch me!" Rouge said with a frown._

_Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Is that how you say thanks to someone who just saved your life?"_

_"Saving my life?" Rouge repeated, almost as if the gesture was crazy. "Don't think I owe you one!" she tore back, a smile starting to appear on her face. "You just wanted to hold my hand didn't you? That's why you saved me!" Now she was smiling in flattery. "You're such a creep," she said, pulling her right arm up onto her chest._

_Knuckles shook his head. "This isn't a joke you know. Think what you want bat girl, I was saving the Master Emerald!"_

_Rouge's smile faded as she looked away. "No matter what you say, it sounds crazy!"_

_She threw her emerald shards in front of Knuckles._

_Knuckles was surprised. "Wha…?" was all he could manage to say._

_"Fine, then just take them," Rouge said with a frown before turning her back on Knuckles. "They stink, like echidna's do!"_

_Knuckles frowned at her back. "If that's what you thought, you should have given me them in the first place!"_

_He kneeled down and placed the pieces of the Master Emerald together and a green light blinded them both. They turned away briefly before looking at it._

_Knuckles rubbed the emerald, to make sure he wasn't dreaming and all the pieces were restored._

_"Finally!" he smiled._

_"What?" Rouge asked firmly, closing he eyes and turning her back to him again._

_"I'm sorry…" Knuckles looked away as he pretty much forced out, "…if I hurt you."_

Knuckles slowly awoke, with his eyes only about a fifth of the way open_. 'What the-? Why did I dream about that? That's in the past now…_' he thought in confusion. 

He tried to lift up his arm so he could rub his eyes, when he felt some weight on it. '_Wha?_' 

He looked down to see what the cause was and… 

"**_AH_**!" he was so startled to see Rouge so close; he blushed heavily, his eyes widened and his skin jumped about 5 metres out of his fur. 

He closed his eyes tightly, thinking he was having a nightmare before opening his eyes slowly again and looking down. Nope. She was still there. 

He inhaled quickly and then exhaled sharply. He had never been his close to a girl before. Or…probably anyone. He was usually defending the Master Emerald, or something else important. He would never let his guard down or let anyone come near him. Or at least not _this_ near. 

His eyes were shrinking down to almost their normal size, but they were still pretty big and alert. His blush was burning through his fur, and he felt like he was going to explode he was getting so warm. 

'_Why is she…what does she think she's…how did she…why did I…?_' his thoughts were all jumbled and confused. 

He then stared at her intently for a short period of time. His surprised expression slowly softened. '_I guess Rouge isn't that bad…sure, she can unbelievably stubborn at times…but other times…' _hesmiled softly as his thoughts continued, '_she can be kinda…cute, almost_.' 

She suddenly started to stir, and Knuckles' skin jumped out of his fur again. He sweat dropped as he watched her yawn, with wide eyes. She stretched and he borrowed his hand back to rub his eyes quickly. He blushed and held his breath absentmindedly as she then rubbed her eyes and stretched again. 

She blinked a few times before turning to check on Knuckles. 

Knuckles, feeling frozen in the position he was, blushed with wide eyes and a freaky grin. 

Rouge jumped to see him awake. "Aah!" she jumped to her feet and stepped back with her left foot. "You're awake!" 

"Yeah," Knuckles said with his same expression on. 

Rouge frowned slightly. "What's with the freaky grin?" 

Knuckles' eyes popped back into their sockets, his blush slowly disappeared and his grin went with it. "Uh…nothing," he said, regaining character. 

"How long have you been awake?" Rouge asked, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks, remembering her position. 

"A few minutes," Knuckles said, trying to sound calm, a deep blush threatening to take over him. 

Rouge blushed and looked a little panicked. "Well…the reason I was in that position was because I found you frozen last night and…" she shut her eyes closed and mumbled "IhadtokeepyouaswarmasIcould," quickly. 

It took a minute to register her long mumble in Knuckles' mind but once it did, he just nodded. "Oh yeah…" 

Rouge's blush left and she snapped her eyes open again. "What?!" she snapped. "I saved your life and looked after you, and all you can say is 'oh yeah…'?" 

Knuckles frowned at her comment. "I was just _remembering_," he defended himself. "So…" 

Rouge watched him intently as he continued, with her eyes half open. She was slightly nodding her head…anything to coax a thank-you out of him would just make her day. 

"So," Knuckles repeated, his eyes averting her gaze, "thanks for saving me," he mumbled. 

Rouge smiled in success. "You're welcome," she grinned, showing her top fangs. 

"So," Rouge spoke up again, "did you end up finding the three emerald pieces, after all of that?" 

Knuckles smirked. "Of course!" 

Rouge smirked too. 

"So I guess we should head to our next destination," Knuckles said before taking out his trusty map again. 

Rouge's eyes widened a little. '_Did he just say 'our' next destination? Where 'we' are headed? But…why is he including me all of a sudden?'_ Rouge thought in confusion. 

Almost as if he heard her thinking, Knuckles spoke up. "Saving someone's life affects the way the person thinks about the other person," he said warmly. 

Rouge also smiled truthfully. Her eyelids slowly lowered from the top of her eye to about halfway down her eye. She tilted her head slightly down as she smiled at Knuckles. 

Knuckles became a little nervous so he announced loudly. "Are next uh, destination is uh," his eyes darted from his map to Rouge as he nervously continued, "Abandoned Mine…" he trailed off as his eyes widened a little as Rouge slowly walked toward him. 

Knuckles slowly backed up. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked nervously. 

Rouge smiled as she continued to slowly approach him, "Something I should've done when you saved me at Meteor Herd." 

Knuckles was confused, and kept backing up until he was up against a cliff. One more step and he would fall. He looked down at it as a few pebbles bounced down the sides of the cliff and then at least a _minute_ later, crashed at the bottom. 

Knuckles gulped before turning back to Rouge and not knowing what to expect. He had no time to register what was going on. 

**BAM!**

Her lips pressed up against his, full force. Knuckles' eyes kept wide open, but Rouge closed her eyes as she continued to hold onto the kiss. 

'_What the -? Rouge the bat? Bat girl? She's…kissing me!?' he blushed deeply. 'But…mmm…it's not…that bad…_' 

* ~ Cliffhanger!** ~ ***

In your reviews, please suggest what should happen next (if you have any ideas) and what a good title for this story could be (because I want to change it). Thanks! ^_^ 

Until next time, 

Satokasu Suki 


	8. Chapter 7: Ahem…

**Chapter Seven: Ahem…**

Knuckles' eyelids slowly started to lower until they were about halfway down his eye. 

'_Wait a minute! What am I doing? I'm…kissing back? We're rivals! We can't do this…besides; I don't have time for love! I have to treasure hunt, and protect the Master Emerald from people like her,_' Knuckles frowned and regained his character as he tore away from Rouge. 

Rouge slowly opened her eyelids halfway. 

Knuckles closed his eyes and kept frowning, finding his voice again. "Don't ever do that again. I'll be at the Abandoned Mine." 

And with that, he glided away. 

Rouge sighed as she dropped to the icy ground and sat with her knees up and her hands far behind her back to prop her up. She looked up at the sky a little sadly before closing her eyes tightly and then opening them. 

'_Stupid echidna…'_ she thought angrily. She put her face in her hands before sighing in frustration and looking up at the sky once more. '_What came over me, anyway? It's not like I actually love him or anything! That kiss was meaningless!'_ she scolded herself through her thoughts. She froze and went over her thoughts again. A confused, distant expression appeared on her face, _'…right…?'_

**_DING! DING!_**

Rouge jumped a little at the sound. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she didn't expect for her cell phone to ring. 

She yanked it out of her pocket in a huff and shoved it against her large ear. "What?" she snapped angrily, still a little embarrassed about her reaction to her cell phone. 

"Rouge, how are things going?" an anxious, kind of raspy male voice asked on the other end of the cell phone. 

Rouge's eyes widened a little at the recognition. "Oh! Hello Doctor…" her lips formed a twisted grin as her eyelids lowered. "Things are going perfectly!" she some-what lied. 

"Perfect," Eggman replied happily. She could hear his smile in his words, and he started to chortle evilly. "I'm counting on you bat girl, just lure Knuckles a little further and then he'll be mine!" 

"You can…count on me," Rouge tried her best to sound happy and confident in herself, but her conscious took over. 

"Is everything okay?" Eggman asked. Not really in concern, more anxiety. He wanted to make sure Rouge got her job done so he could eliminate his competition one by one. 

Rouge shook her head clear of her nagging conscious thoughts. "Of course, doctor. Knuckles will be yours in a matter of time…" 

"Great. Talk to you lat– oh," he paused. "Shadow wants to talk to you." 

Rouge was slightly surprised. _'What in the world could he possibly have to say?'_ "Okay…" she said slowly, "put him on." 

Shadow's deep voice greeted her. "Hey there, bat girl. Where are you right now?" 

"Hey Shadow, what's up?" Rouge greeted calmly. "I'm at Shiver Mountain." 

"I just wanted to remind you to get your job done quickly, and to not mess it up because we're all counting on you. Eggman's taking care of Tails as we speak," Shadow lifted the phone away from his ear and put it at about an arm's length so Rouge could hear what was going on. 

Shooting could be heard, as well as the clunking of metal as they ran around in their Mech's. "I'll never give up!" Tails said confidently before, Rouge guessed, shooting Eggman. She guessed this because Eggman groaned angrily in response and then said, "Is that all you got? Get a load of _this_!" 

Shadow put the phone back to his ear to hear her response. 

"Yeah, yeah," she sounded very impatient, "I'll do my best and Knuckles will be out of the way in a matter of time." 

Shadow frowned even more than he had previously. "Whatever. Just don't mess up," he clicked off the phone. 

Eggman laughed triumphantly, obviously winning against Tails, before entering the room Shadow was in. 

Eggman questioningly stared after Shadow as he dashed away. "Where do you think you're going?" 

Shadow turned back to him briefly, "I'm checking on Rouge. Somehow I think she'll screw up and _actually_ fall in love with him or something stupid." 

Eggman laughed. "Bat girl? Fall in love with that gullible knucklehead? Ha!" 

Shadow looked at him seriously. "Well she gave up her emerald pieces at Meteor Herd to him before. People don't give other people things they adore and work hard for, if they _hate_ them," he said. 

Eggman frowned. "She gave up her emerald pieces?" he growled. "Why did she go to all that work of collecting them, if she was just going to give them up?" 

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Because she had a crush on him," he said before adding, "and a rather _obvious _one at that." 

Eggman crossed his arms over his chest_. _"Well I guess it doesn't really matter, anyway. The only thing we needed from her were the Chaos Emeralds, which she didn't hand over to Knuckles thankfully, so-" he looked up from thinking aloud to where Shadow was. 

Shadow was nowhere in sight. Eggman shrugged, thinking he had already left to find Rouge. 

*** 

Meanwhile, Rouge glided off toward the Abandoned Mine. 

She looked and looked, anxious about the moment they were going to meet up with each other. That would probably be one of the most awkward moments of her life. 

She suddenly saw a red object in the distance, digging into the ground. "Aha!" she said as she glided off toward him. 

She took a deep breath and then exhaled sharply when she landed, as he popped out of the ground. 

"My emerald, my destiny," he grinned as he placed the three emeralds behind him somewhere, safely. 

"_Ahem_," Rouge cleared her throat to get his attention. "Uh…hi," she forced a smile. 

"Rouge," Knuckles greeted coldly. 

Rouge awkwardly started to walk toward him. "Listen, I…" 

**_CRRAAAACCKKKKK!_**

Rouge and Knuckles jerked their heads toward the ground to see if they could see what made the noise. 

A small crack in the ground started to grow into a huge crack. The ground started to shake. 

"_W-w-w-w-h-h-h-h-a-a-a-t-t-t s-s-s-s-h-h-h-o-o-o-u-u-u-l-l-l-d-d-d w-w-w-w-e-e-e-e-e-e d-d-d-d-o-o-o-o?"_ Rouge asked, her voice shaking as she ground started to violently rock unpredictably. 

Knuckles opened his mouth to respond, but they both flew forward as the ground started to crumble beneath them. 

Knuckles quickly got up and grabbed Rouge by the wrist and pulled her up. 

"Where are we going?" Rouge asked in a worried tone, and Knuckles just kept his grip on her wrist as he ran forward. A mine cart caught his eye in the near distance. 

"Quick – into that mine cart!" he said quickly as he jumped into the cart. Rouge jumped in behind him and it started to move at an incredible speed. 

However, the breaking ground was gaining on them. 

Rouge absentmindedly held Knuckles tightly as they entered a lava pit. 

Knuckles looked back at the ground. "Well, it looks like we lost it," he grinned. 

"Uh…" Rouge was too shocked for words. She just pointed forward. 

Knuckles focused in front of him and a huge lava bubble that was getting ready to burst was centimeters in front of them. 

Knuckles clenched his teeth. "Lean right!" he commanded, slanting heavily to the right. Rouge followed his example and tightened her grip on him as she leaned right. They narrowly missed the lava bubble, and it burst mere _seconds _after they passed it. 

They both sighed in relief before going up a slanted wall. "Lean left!" Knuckles commanded loudly over the grimacing sounds of lava churning and bubbling. 

They simultaneously leaned left, and then they were safely on leveled ground again. They got out of the lava pit and sighed in relief when they noticed they were no longer being chased by a crack in the ground, or bursting lava bubbles. 

Rouge blushed faintly as she slowly tightened her grip on Knuckles and hopped out of the cart. He climbed out with ease. 

He walked up in front of her and lowered his head slightly as he grinned smugly. 

Rouge smiled. "Don't think I owe you one! You've _only_ saved my life _twice_!" 

Knuckles chuckled in good nature, knowing she was being sarcastic. 

They stared at each other for a brief moment with warm smiles on their faces. 

*** 

Short chapter this time - sorry! ;_; 

It took a while to rearrange everything to get the *new* Prologue in. I suggest reading it before this chapter, but…whatever. ^_^ Anyway please review! I need ideas for the next chapter desperately or the story will DIE because I have no more ideas in my mind!! >_ 

Also: (as LilDaisy already knows) I was thinking of putting a song in this story. Should I? And if I should, what song? 

Thanks! 

~ Satokasu Suki 


	9. Chapter 8: Hyper Shadow VS Hyper Knuckle...

**Chapter Eight: Hyper Shadow VS Hyper Knuckles…and _Hyper Rouge_?**

Their eyes tore away from each other quickly, before they cleared their throats in unison. 

Suddenly a quick shadow caught Knuckles' eye in the distance, passing some bushes. 

"Huh?" he said attentively. 

The shadow appeared again, this time on a cliff. 

"Who's there?" Knuckles yelled to the shadow. It jumped down in front of Knuckles and Rouge. 

Rouge's eyes widened in panic. "S-shadow…!" she realized who it was. 

"…_Shadow…_?" Knuckles said slowly. "But…I thought – didn't you die?" 

Shadow smirked. "Enough small talk, knucklehead. Rouge – I think you have something to tell Knuckles, here," he turned to Rouge with an amused grin. 

She backed away a little. "W-what do you mean…?" she asked, trying to sound calm but failing. 

Knuckles turned to her suspiciously. "…Rouge…do you want to tell me something…?" he coaxed. 

Rouge gulped loudly and pulled on her collar a little. "Uh…no," she said quietly. 

Knuckles shoved his face in front of hers, so their noses were touching. "Rouge," he repeated more firmly. 

Rouge looked away a little sadly, and Shadow stepped in between them. 

"Well, if you're not going to tell him, I will," Shadow said before glancing at Knuckles. "Bat girl used you," he said simply. "She lead you to us so we could finally get rid of you. She had to pretend that she _loved _you," he rolled his eyes in disgust. 

"What?!" Knuckles' eyes widened. "Rouge – how could you? After all we went through, and…that means when you kissed me – " 

"Ha!" Shadow was highly amused. "She _kissed_ you? Isn't that going a little too far there, bat girl? You were supposed to _pretend_ to love him, remember? _Pretend_!" 

Rouge couldn't hold back anymore. She charged toward Shadow and kicked him hard in the stomach before flipping him over on his back. He struggled to stand up to make a move, but she didn't allow it. Rouge picked him up roughly in her hands and glided quickly toward a mountain. He got shoved into the mountain before a huge boulder hit his head that had been on the top of the mountain the whole time. 

Rouge breathed through clenched teeth, sweat pouring down her head. Shadow started to shake a little before a bright light surrounded him. 

Knuckles and Rouge were forced to shield their faces and look away. 

"I was afraid this would happen," Shadow spoke in a low tone from his spot at the bottom of the mountain, surrounded by blood and rock particles. "I brought the 7 Chaos Emeralds with me just in case anyone was actually foolish enough to fight back." 

Rouge and Knuckles looked at him. He was no longer Shadow – he had turned a creamy-white colour and was glowing. He was Hyper Shadow. 

"You're foolish Rouge. Very foolish. Working for Eggman had lots of possibilities – but you blew it. You ruined everything. You avoided your job. We do not allow that…you will pay," Hyper Shadow stood up and looked at her, full of hatred and anger. "You will _PAY_!" he charged toward her at an incredible speed and knocked her over with ease. 

"Aah!" Rouge went flying into a wall. Knuckles ran to her side and pulled her up. 

"Why are you helping me?" Rouge looked into his eyes. 

"Because no matter how low you acted – you need help right now, and I know deep down…you're really not that bad," Knuckles said, also looking into her eyes. He loosened his grip on her hand. 

Knuckles had a tough exterior, but he had a big heart no matter what anybody thought. He tried his hardest to hide that to the world, but Rouge found his warm heart through his cold, angry exterior. _Rouge_ was the one to set Knuckles free. The _real_ Knuckles. The _caring_ Knuckles. 

Rouge tilted her head slightly and smiled warmly. "Thank you," she whispered happily. 

"For what?" Knuckles asked, ignoring the fact they were still holding hands. 

"For everything," Rouge said quietly as she smiled before hugging him tightly. She didn't care what anyone thought anymore. 

Knuckles, although surprised, slowly gave in. A warm smile appeared on his face. "You're…welcome," he whispered, hugging her back. 

Unbeknownst to Rouge or Knuckles, Hyper Shadow had been charging up for an attack during their moment. 

The ground started to rumble violently. Rouge and Knuckles tore away from each other and looked at Hyper Shadow questioningly. 

The ground started to break off into various pieces as Hyper Shadow charged toward Knuckles. Cold water poured over the ground that broke away and turned it to ice. 

Knuckles noticed Hyper Shadow and easily dodged his charge. Growling, Hyper Shadow tried again only to fail. "Knuckles…don't do this. You're just hurting yourself even more, along with your little _girlfriend_," Hyper Shadow growled. 

Knuckles glared at Hyper Shadow before yelling over at Rouge. "Rouge – give me your Master Emerald pieces!" 

Rouge looked at him questioningly before noticing his urgent and angry expression. "Okay…?" she said as she tossed them to him. 

He took out his pieces also, and all of the pieces combined. The Master Emerald was suddenly full size in front of them all. Knuckles closed his eyes and everything around him turned black. The Master Emerald started spinning around in a circle before circling Knuckles, himself. 

It soon started to move so quickly it appeared as a blur to everyone else. The Master Emerald disappeared, and a bright light flashed. When the light was gone, they noticed Knuckles had turned a light pink colour. Knuckles had transformed into Hyper Knuckles! 

Hyper Shadow waved toward himself. "Bring it on!" he challenged. 

Hyper Knuckles smirked a little before tossing Rouge the Master Emerald. "Rouge – turn Hyper!" 

Rouge looked at him as if he was crazy. "But…I can't!" 

"Yes you can! The Master Emerald has," Hyper Knuckles struggled as he flipped Hyper Shadow over his back before kicking his head into the ground, "special powers – remember?" 

"Well…" Rouge looked at the Master Emerald reluctantly; "here goes nothing!" 

The Master Emerald started to spin, like it had for Knuckles, before spinning around Rouge, herself. A bright light surrounded Rouge. When the light was gone, Rouge noticed she had turned a light purple colour and her flipped hair was flipped upwards. She stretched out her right foot and curved her hands at her side before giggling. "This isn't too bad!" She also wore a new costume that was purple (her costume in Sonic Heroes). 

"Rouge – a little _help_ over here!" Hyper Knuckles said as he kicked Hyper Shadow off of him and glided toward a wall. An earthquake shook Hyper Shadow and Hyper Rouge to the ground. 

Hyper Knuckles helped Hyper Rouge up again, and this time she just smiled. 

"Let's both collect 50 rings and then combine them. Maybe we'll be able to defeat Hyper Shadow then," Hyper Rouge grinned as she dashed off and collected 50 rings. Knuckles nodded and also collected 50 rings. 

They met back at where they had been and their rings magically combined. Two bombs appeared where the rings had been. Rouge and Knuckles grinned wickedly at each other before tossing the bombs at Hyper Shadow. 

Hyper Shadow yelled in pain as smoke covered the area. When the smoke cleared, Hyper Shadow had turned back into Shadow, and Shadow was lying on the ground. 

Hyper Rouge and Hyper Knuckles high-fived each other before closing their eyes. A light surrounded them, and when it was gone, they were both in their normal forms. 

Rouge looked down at herself, "Ooh," she whined, "just when I was getting used to that costume," she giggled slightly before winking at Knuckles. Knuckles just chuckled. 

They both approached Shadow cautiously, and Rouge extended her hand to him. "Shadow? Can we trust you now?" 

Shadow allowed her to help him up and once he was on his feet he blinked a few times before rubbing the back of his head. "…W-what just happened?" he asked weakly. 

"We kicked your butts in our Hyper forms," Knuckles said playfully. 

Shadow opened his mouth to say something but ended up swaying back and forth instead. Rouge and Knuckles helped him on either side to stand up steadily. 

"Hey, you okay?" Rouge asked him in concern. 

Shadow smirked slightly while still obtaining his weak appearance and attitude. "Of course I'm okay. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, aren't I?" 

Rouge smiled warmly at him. "Looks like the real Shadow's back. Our fighting must have broken away your outer 'no feelings' shell." 

Knuckles arched an eyebrow at her. "Huh?" 

Rouge giggled. "It all started when Eggman called me on my cell phone…" Rouge began to explain. 

~ 

I apologize for not having this chapter up sooner. Many of you expressed your concerns as to what was happening with this story - but don't worry, I'm still writing it. ^_^ 

Please don't forget to review! 


	10. Chapter 9: Defeating Eggman

Disclaimer: The disclaimer can be found on Chapter 1. ^_^  
  
Special Note: I once again am forced to apologize for this chapter being a little late. My computer was unfortunately attacked with "The Worm", and of course when everything on my computer was wiped off, my two new chapters went with it. After that I had a 20 hour power failure some of you may be able to relate to. Ack! It was ridiculous! x_x ^_~  
  
Anyway, here I am, retyping the final two chapters. Hopefully they'll be itwo times/i as good as they originally were. ^_~   
  
In Addition: Sorry if there are any spelling and/or gramatical errors. When everything was wiped off - Microsoft Word (aided with spell and grammar check) went with it. For the time being, I can only use WordPad and Notepad; which unfortunately don't have checkers.   
  
bChapter 9: Defeating Eggman/b  
  
"So...how are we going to defeat Eggman?" Shadow questioned.  
  
Rouge smirked knowingly. "Oh, I can think of a few ways..." she rubbed her hands together.  
  
***  
  
Eggman typed quickly at his computer. Footsteps were soon heard.  
  
"Hmm?" Eggman perked up, hearing the footsteps. "Shadow? Is that you?" he guessed.  
  
"Ugh," Rouge put a hand on her chest and rolled her eyes teasingly, "ihardly/i."  
  
Recognizing the voice, Eggman, a little shocked, turned to face her. "iRouge?/i" he blinked, "how is the Knuckles plan working out?"   
  
"Perfectly," Rouge lowered her eyelids and grinned, flashing her fangs.  
  
"Then what brings you here?" he asked curiously before resuming his typing on the computer.  
  
"Well...I just wanted to know," Rouge looked away before looking back at him, "do you want me to bring Knuckles ihere/i, or do you want to come and get him?" she smirked, knowing her question would irritate him.  
  
Eggman frowned as he turned to look at her again. "I want you to bring him here!" he said, getting a little impatient.  
  
"Okay, well in that case," Rouge's smirk disappeared as she stepped aside, "here he is."  
  
Knuckles stepped out from somewhere behind Rouge. "Eggman," he greeted coldly.  
  
"Knuckles? You're ialive/i?" Eggman gaped, briefly looking at Rouge for an explaination, but she simply crossed her arms over her chest. Eggman tried to keep calm about the whole situation. "I-I mean, you're ialive/i!" he pretended to be thrilled.  
  
"Save it, Eggman," Knuckles said coldly.   
  
Shadow suddenly appeared in front of Rouge and Knuckles, his eyes narrowed. Everyone assumed he had used Chaos Control to transport there easily.  
  
"Shadow?" Eggman was surprised to see him. "I see you didn't exactly do your job," he muttered irritably. "And don't expect any sort of reward for ithis/i, bat girl," Eggman hissed at Rouge. "Thanks for nothing!" he yelled at them both.  
  
Rouge flashed her fangs as she grinned. "Here's what you deserve, Eggman..."   
  
Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow all approached Eggman with evil smirks and narrowed eyes.  
  
Knuckles kicked Eggman in the back of his leg, causing Eggman to unexpectedly fall on the ground in surprise. Rouge took this opportunity to jump on top of Eggman and do a ground pound on his back. Shadow ran toward Eggman, picked him up and threw him against one of his machines. He then did a homing attack on Eggman's head.  
  
Eggman struggled to get up, but slouched down in defeat.  
  
"Heh heh," Rouge laughed, "I'm better than you are!" she exclaimed happily as she spun around.  
  
Shadow stood as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I am the ultimate!" he said proudly.  
  
Knuckles punched right, then left, and then spun around. "You're not as strong as you thought you were," he grinned.  
  
Suddenly, Eggman's machine's started to spark.   
  
"What?" Eggman panicked, rising to his feet. "W-what's going on?"   
  
"Heh," Rouge smirked, looking at Shadow and Knuckles briefly, "that's our cue to leave." She turned to leave before tossing a small explosive bomb toward Eggman. She gave him the Captain's Salute with a wink.  
  
Shadow used Chaos Control to transport to safety elsewhere. Rouge and Knuckles dashed out of Eggman's Base.  
  
Eggman growled. "This is not the end!" he yelled before a huge explosion exploded.  
  
Knuckles put his arm out in front of Rouge protectively, as they were forced to both look away.  
  
Eggman's Base quickly deteriorated before their eyes, as some machines fell over in defeat, with various dents in them.  
  
Eggman stumbled out, once the smoke and explosion itself had cleared.   
  
"You're ialive/i?" Rouge and Knuckles gaped in surprise at Eggman. They noticed other voices had chimed in with them, so they both turned around to find Sonic, Tails and Amy.  
  
"We hadn't seen you guys in a while, so we guessed that you had..." Tails trailed off before grinning, "but you're alive!"  
  
"Alive, and better than ever," Rouge joked with a wink.  
  
"Where have you guys been?" Sonic asked them.  
  
Rouge and Knuckles glanced at each other. "Oh, here, there - everywhere," Knuckles smirked. The sun was setting behind them, setting a rather picturesque scene.  
  
Amy noticed something. "iAwww/i!" Amy suddenly cooed out of nowhere.  
  
Everyone turned to her questioningly.   
  
"Heh heh," she giggled nervously, "ahem!" she cleared her throat innocently.  
  
Knuckles eyed her suspicsiously. He wasn't planning on letting it go, "What were you referring to?"  
  
"Nothing," Amy sang with a smile.  
  
"What," Knuckles said firmly as more of a statement than a question.  
  
"Nothing; never mind!" Amy protested.  
  
"Tell me!" Knuckles coaxed firmly.  
  
Sonic stood in front of Amy as he grinned nervously. "Never mind what she noticed! Let's just all go home - okay?"  
  
Knuckles squinted slightly at Amy suspicsiously, before giving in to Sonic.   
  
Meanwhile, Eggman angrily pushed a part of one of his broken machines apart. "Years of hard work...hours of research...idestroyed/i!" he threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "Grrr...I hate that echidna, and that bat...and that hedgehog, too! Not to mention Sonic..." Eggman tugged on his mustache, cooking up a plan. "This is not the last you'll see of me! Mark my words!" he declared. "iHa ha ha ha ha/i!" he laughed like a maniac.  
  
Cut to: everyone else.  
  
"So, how was it?" Sonic asked Knuckles as he swung his arm around him.  
  
"How was what?" Knuckles asked obliviously. "Defeating Eggman?"  
  
"No, as irewarding/i as that is..." Sonic smirked before continuing, "...I meant how was it with Rouge?"  
  
"Uh...good, I guess," Knuckles said simply. "I saw another side of her. A whole new side..."  
  
"A side that you iliked/i?" Sonic hinted with a wink.  
  
Knuckles looked at Sonic strangely.   
  
"iLove/i, even?" Sonic nudged Knuckles gently in the ribs.  
  
Knuckles' nuzzle turned an interesting shade of pink. "I don't know if I'd go ithat/i far, but anything's better than the jewel stealing, greedy, egotistical, annoying, sneaky, kniving side of her," he explained with a small smile.  
  
Sonic placed his hands up behind his head as he kept walking with an amused look on his face.  
  
Knuckles stopped walking when he noticed Sonic's expression. "What," he said firmly.  
  
"Oh, nothing," Sonic teased playfully with a smile.  
  
Knuckles rolled his eyes. "First Amy - now you! Just tell me!"  
  
"Well," Sonic smirked, "I just noticed that...it's obvious you like her."  
  
"What?!-" Knuckles began to protest, blushing.  
  
Sonic closed his eyes and held up his hand. "No matter how much you try to deny it, I know that you like her."  
  
"But Sonic, I-"  
  
"Ah, ah, ah!" Sonic kept his eyes closed as he waved his index finger. "Just admit it! Emerald protecting, stubborn, gullable, strong, sceptical, good ol' Knuckles - actually ilikes/i someone!"  
  
Knuckles threw his hand over Sonic's mouth and Sonic opened his eyes halfway, knowingly. "What if someone hears you?!" he whispered loudly.  
  
Sonic smirked and kept his eyes half open, and Knuckles rolled his eyes at him.   
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Amy and Rouge were walking together, in front of Knuckles and Sonic.  
  
"So, what did you notice back there?" Rouge asked Amy curiously.  
  
Amy smirked. "Well..." she said reluctantly.  
  
"You can tell me, I won't tell anyone," Rouge coaxed with a sly grin.  
  
"Well, I just noticed that you and Knuckles make a cute couple," Amy blushed with a smile. "The sun was setting behind you, and you were standing awfully close to each other-"  
  
"iKnuckles/i?" Rouge closed one of her eyes half way and frowned. She waved her hand lazilly. "I would only like him was if it was the end of the world!" she threw her hands up dramatically.  
  
Amy nodded. "iSuuure/i," she said in disbelief.  
  
Meanwhile, with Knuckles and Sonic...  
  
'/iI don't like Rouge, do I? I mean she's nice, fun to be with, attractive/i,' Knuckles blushed. 'iWell...i'  
  
Meanwhile, Rouge was trying not to think about Knuckles. 'iI don't like that stubborn, relentless echidna! ...Do I?/i' Rouge wondered to herself as she passed some red flowers. 'iWow...that's a beautiful shade of red. It's the same shade as Knuckles' fur...I mean...okay. Don't think of Knuckles. Don't think of Knuckles!/i' Rouge then noticed the sky had turned a dark purple/black colour. 'iHmm, that's an unusual colour. It's almost the same colour of Knuckles' eyes...I mean.../i' she sighed aloud, 'iokay, stop it. You can stop thinking about him!/i' Rouge kept looking at the sky. 'iOh, it's a half-moon today. If the moon was flipped a little differently it would be like the moon on Knuckles' chest-i' Rouge gripped her head angrily and yelled out loud. "ARGH!"  
  
Everyone looked at her questioningly, and she grinned nervously. "Just...ignore that, heh heh." 'iIt's the end of the world as I know it./i'  
  
Everyone just kept walking.  
  
'iI wonder what that was all about?/i' Knuckles wondered with a cocked eyebrow.  
  
Amy turned to Rouge. "Uh...are you okay, Rouge?"  
  
Rouge blushed a little and smiled nervously. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"You were thinking about him, weren't you?" Amy asked slyly.  
  
"Uh!" Rouge was surprised she knew. She cleared her throat and regained her character, "no...of course not," she closed her eyes and kept walking.  
  
Knuckles then noticed they were nearing the Station Square train station. "I guess I'll see you guys later," he grinned before looking at Rouge.  
  
She had a weird expression on her face, almost like she was planning something.   
  
Knuckles didn't necissarily like her expression. "Uh...bye," he said quickly to her before turning and leaving. Rouge just smirked.  
  
"Bye Knux!" Sonic called, and Amy and Tails just waved.  
  
Knuckles waved without looking back at them as he climbed a few stairs and then boarded the train. He boarded the train and took a seat. After a few minutes he arrived at the Mystic Ruins.   
  
Knuckles went down a few sets of rickety wooden stairs before turning right and climbing some large rocks. He entered a tunnel and then let the wind take him upward. Knuckles turned right and after a while of walking in the tunnel, he was finally outside.   
  
Crickets buzzed loudly and the heavy darkness reminded Knuckles it was nightime as he crossed a large bridge and then walked toward a small area. Knuckles placed the Master Emerald in the middle of a stone area. It started to glow very brightly.  
  
***  
  
The next chapter will most likely be the last chapter. Please review! ^_^ I need ideas for the next chapter!! The confession scene has been all worked out, but I need ideas! For example, how are the others going to find out, etc.   
  
Thanks,  
  
~ Satokasu Suki 


	11. Chapter 10: The Confession and Grand Fin...

Disclaimer: I don't own SEGA or related characters/items.  
  
Note: This is it! The last chapter! ^_^  
  
Chapter Ten: The Confession and Grand Finale  
  
Angel Island slowly rose, and the Master Emerald went back to it's normal aura. Knuckles rubbed the Master Emerald a few times, and it turned a bright orange colour.  
  
'Yes, Knuckles?' an airy, ghost-like female voice answered.  
  
Knuckles took a seat by the Master Emerald. "Tikal, I have a problem..."  
  
'Feel free to tell me about it. I will try my best to help you out,' Tikal answered.  
  
"Well...it involves a girl..." Knuckles mumbled in embarrassment.  
  
'A girl who goes by the name of Rouge the Bat, am I right?' Tikal replied.  
  
Knuckles was surprised. "Yeah...how did you know?"  
  
'Don't forget the Master Emerald was with you during your whole adventure. I was watching you and Rouge,' Tikal answered before giggling.  
  
"What's so funny?" Knuckles asked curiously.  
  
'The fact you like Rouge. It seems very unlikely someone like you would fall for someone like her,' Tikal answered in amusement.  
  
"Oh," Knuckles frowned with a blush. "Wait a minute, I never told you I liked Rouge!"  
  
'Remember I was with you through your whole adventure. I saw and heard everything that happened. I know what you were thinking,' Tikal said in amusement before giggling again. 'No matter how much you deny, I know the truth.'  
  
Knuckles whole nuzzle was pink by now. He looked at the ground, as if he was ashamed. "Well I guess there's no point in denying. I do like Rouge."  
  
Tikal giggled again. 'Don't worry! I think she likes you too.'  
  
"I'll be the judge of that, thank you," a familiar voice said from somewhere in a tree.  
  
"What?" Knuckles asked in alarm, looking toward a nearby tree. A familiar head was poking out of the tree, upside down. "R-Rouge!" Knuckles recognized her. The Master Emerald went back to it's normal green aura, and Knuckles panicked. "Uh...how long have you been up there?"  
  
Rouge smirked before getting out of the tree graceful and landing on her feet. "Long enough to know you like me."  
  
"Oh," he said rather sadly, turning to leave.  
  
"You shouldn't be ashamed of what you feel," she stepped closer to him and he started to feel a little uncomfortable. Her eyelids lowered and she smiled at him.  
  
"W...what do you mean?" Knuckles asked nervously, his heart beat increased.  
  
Rouge put her arm casually on the back of his head. "I mean...maybe I feel the same way," she said in a low tone with a smile.  
  
By now Knuckles heart was beating overtime, and his nuzzle was completely red. Rouge's head neared his. He gulped.  
  
"Relax," she whispered soothingly. A shiver was sent up his spine as she brushed her lips against his.  
  
She then backed up a little. He longed for more, and she knew it. "Oh that's right, I'm not supposed to kiss you again, remember?" Rouge teased with a wink.  
  
Knuckles chuckled as he relaxed. He walked closer to her. "You have my permission," he said in a low tone that made Rouge melt.  
  
Rouge smiled as she kissed him again, this time longer, and much more passionate. Knuckles didn't hesitate as he kissed back. It felt good. It felt right. It felt...perfect.  
  
After a few seconds they parted, both with smiles on their faces.  
  
"I love you," Rouge smiled warmly at him.  
  
"I love you too, Rouge," Knuckles replied softly with a smile.  
  
"Ooh, how romantic!" a female voice cooed.  
  
"Huh?" Rouge and Knuckles said in unison.  
  
A familiar pink hedgehog jumped out of some nearby bushes. "That was so romantic!" she wailed.  
  
Sonic and Tails joined Amy, by her side. "Yeah, not to mention embarassing," Tails grinned smugly with his video camera strapped across his hand.  
  
"What?" Knuckles gaped. "You...you have that on tape?"  
  
"Yep," Tails grinned smugly. He zoomed in on Knuckles' angry face. "Ah, the perfect ending," he smirked, satisfied. He turned off his camera and put it away before noticing Knuckles was standing right in front of him. "Ah!" Tails shrieked, cowering behind Amy.  
  
Rouge laughed a bit before walking up to Knuckles. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you..." she said, before pulling out a photograph from somewhere behind her, "but if you don't burn that tape, I'll show the world this!" she held up the photograph with pride.  
  
Tails gasped, realizing what the photograph was of. "No!" He dove for the picture. Rouge swiftly held it up high, as Tails helplessly jumped for it. Sonic snatched the picture out of Rouge's hand while she entertained Tails. He studied it carefully. The photograph was of Cream kissing Tails. Tails was blushing like a mad man and his eyes were the size of dinner plates. Sonic burst out laughing.  
  
"Nice picture, Tails!" he laughed.  
  
Amy smirked, seeing Sonic so amused. "Let me see that!" she said, taking it from his hands. "Ha ha ha!" she began laughing uncontrollably, eventually leaning on Sonic for support.  
  
Tails blushed with an angry frown as he snatched the photograph out of Amy's hands. "Guys! Stop it!"  
  
Rouge giggled. "Come on, Tails. You couldn't keep it hidden forever," she smirked, flashing her fangs.  
  
Tails smirked smugly. "Kind of like I can't keep this," he waved the tape from his video camera in his hand, "hidden forever!"  
  
Knuckles and Rouge exchanged glances. "I'll hold him down -" Rouge started. "- and I'll take care of the video tape!" Knuckles finished. They smirked as they both neared him.  
  
"G-guys?" Tails gulped as Rouge firmly held Tails down.  
  
"Hyuh!" Knuckles groaned as he yanked the video tape out of Tails' hand.  
  
"No!" Tails whined. "Not my video tape! Knuckles - wait!"  
  
Rouge let go of Tails. "Listen fox boy, you can keep your tape if you don't show anyone else."  
  
"And you can keep that stupid picture as long as you don't show anyone else, okay?" Tails said angrily. They shook on it.  
  
"It's a deal," Rouge grinned.  
  
"Well come on guys, let's leave Rouge and Knuckles alone," Tails said as he left.  
  
"We'll catch up in a second, Tails," Sonic yelled to him. Tails nodded. "Okay!"  
  
"See you later, guys," Sonic smiled as he left with Amy.  
  
Rouge and Knuckles watched them all leave. Rouge then turned to Knuckles.  
  
"So, what now?" she asked him gently.  
  
"I don't know..." he said.  
  
Rouge sighed. "I wish we could have more adventures like the one we just had."  
  
Knuckles couldn't help but smile. He nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But...we're both busy. You work, I guard..." "Yeah," Rouge frowned sadly. "If only we had some sort of excuse..."  
  
Her eyes suddenly sparkled as she looked at the Master Emerald with a grin, thinking of a plan. Knuckles grinned, too, knowing what she was thinking.  
  
"May I?" Rouge smirked, taking a step forward.  
  
Knuckles outstretched his hand and bowed as he smiled at her, as if to say 'ladies first.' Rouge looked back at him before looking at the Master Emerald as if it was for the last time.  
  
BAM!  
  
Emerald shards flew everywhere.  
  
"Hey Rouge," Knuckles turned to her with a smile.  
  
"Yeah?" she responded, turning to face him.  
  
"I bet I can find more pieces first!" Knuckles grinned smugly.  
  
"Yeah well we'll see about that," she laughed. They both ran off into the sunset, in search for pieces of the Master Emerald.  
  
"And so, another adventure begins," Sonic said gently with a smile.  
  
Amy grinned. "Yep. They're such a cute couple!"  
  
Sonic pecked her on the cheek, and she blushed. "But not as cute as us," he smirked.  
  
Amy blushed with a huge smile. "Not even close," she giggled.  
  
"Come on guys, are you coming?" Tails called from far ahead. Sonic cleared his throat. "Yeah!" he yelled in response.  
  
"And so it continues," Amy joked with a wink. Sonic looked back at her. Amy nodded. "Go ahead."  
  
Sonic began to run and Amy chased after him. "Sonic! Wait for me!" she cried.  
  
Tails would never figure it out...  
  
THE END  
  
Note: If you don't get the ending - Sonic and Amy are secretly a couple. ^_^; Sorry if that caused confusion.  
  
Anyway - thank the lord! XD I finally finished the story! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Sorry x10000000000 it took so long. 


End file.
